Goodbye's Don't Mean Forever
by Shawn'sGal
Summary: When Max tells Liz that what is, was not meant to be Liz decides that enough is enough and what happens next could change everyone lives forever. Plz review! Sorry if it's corny... I promise they will get better then this. Oh yeah and it's based on the


  
  


Disclaimer: Sadly, no, none of these characters are mine and never will be.:(   
  


**********   
  


_How lucky am I?_ Max thought. _I have the most beautiful, amazing girl sitting here in my living room. But, then again, I'm a complete bastered for what I'm about to tell her. Again._ " Liz,"   
  


"Hmm?" Liz turned, giving Max a super smile.   
  


_Oh, God, this is going to be harder then I thought._ " Liz, you know that I have feelings for you. I guess it's pretty obvious anyway, but as I was saying," Max ran his fingers through his short black hair, " What I need to say is..."   
  


"Alright, stop. I know what this is leading to. So before you break my heart one more time Max Evans, let me tell you something," Liz interrupted, she stood up, walked toward Max, then she leaned down and gave him a passionate kiss. Max could hardly breath, but, he never wanted that kiss to end. Liz pulled away, "Max, we need to *just be friends*," her voice was dripping with angry sarcasm and pain. With that, she turned and walked out the door.   
  


Max started to run after Liz but as he ran, she started to run. When she was outside, she didn't even stop to get in her car and drive away, she just ran. It was as if she were running away from Max forever. Like she never wanted to be part of his life. Ever. Max stopped running when he realized that what Liz had just done was exactly what Max had done to her so many times already. She *was* running from him. She had had enough pain. She never wanted to feel pain again.   
  


**********   
  


"Maria, I don't know what I'm going to do." Liz sobbed while talking on the phone with Maria.   
  


"Everything is going to be fine. Everything will work out. You know that." Maria consoled. 

"I know that, but it doesn't mean that it won't happen again. I just want to die!" Liz screamed through sobs.   
  


"Liz! Don't you even think that! Don't you dare!" Maria yelled, "What would I do without you? Liz, you are my best friend, my sister even!" now Maria was crying, " Promise me you won't do something stupid Liz." no answer," Promise me!"   
  


"Maria, I will not do anything stupid." Liz sobbed some more.   
  


"Promise?" Maria cried.   
  


"Promise."   
  


"I'm coming over." Maria decided. " I'll see you soon."   
  


***********   
  


_Michael, I have got to talk to Michael._ Maria thought after she got off the phone with Liz. She quickly dialed Michael's number.   
  


"Hello?" Michael answered.   
  


"Michael, what the hell did Max do to Liz!" Maria screamed into the phone.   
  


"Why hello to you too Maria." Michael answered a little taken a back.   
  


"Listen, this is no time for stupid jokes!" Maria began to sob again.   
  


"Whoa, whoa, what's going on?" Michael asked anxiously.   
  


Maria calmed herself down and explained the whole story, "...then, just two seconds ago, she told me that she wanted to die!" she choked back another sob.   
  


"Maria, everything will work out fine, you know Max and Liz, by the end of the day tomorrow, they'll be all over each other." Michael explained.   
  


"I don't think so, she's never been like this. Never. "   
  


" Well, what do you want me to do?" Michael asked.   
  


" Could you at least talk to him?" Maria pleaded.   
  


" Alright, I'll do it, but not because your begging, but because I don't want Liz to do something stupid." Michael gave in.   
  


" Thank you! Thank you so much! If I could, I'd kiss you!" Maria explained.   
  


" I'll take a rain check on that."   
  


" Bye."   
  


" Bye." 

**********   
  


_Okay, that was weird. _Michael thought. _I promised Maria I'd talk to Max so, I will._   
  


" Hello?" it was Isabelle.   
  


" Hey Iz, can I get Max on the phone?" Michael asked with a little urgence in his voice.   
  


" He's kind of sitting in his room with the lights off right now. I think he broke up with Liz again." Isabelle explained.   
  


" Can you get him, this is kind of important." Michael asked.   
  


" What's wrong? Are you okay?" Isabelle asked, worry in her voice.   
  


" Yeah, but I'm not sure Liz is."   
  


" Liz?"   
  


Michael repeated Maria's story, " Oh my God, you don't think she'd..." Isabelle asked in a terrified sort of voice.   
  


" I don't know. I don't think so, but she's been hurt so many times already." Michael explained.   
  


" I'll tell Max."   
  


" Good." then Michael hung up.   
  


********** 

Max stared at the ceiling in his dark room, _I wish I could do something. Anything so that Liz won't hate me. _He thought. _I should just go over there right now and kiss the pain away. But I don't. It's for her that I'm doing this. She doesn't realize that the only reason I'm doing this is to keep her safe. She doesn't realize that this is killing me too! _He thought angrily. Just then, there was a knock on his door. He ignored it at first, but when it grew more urgent, he snapped out of his funk, turned on his light and opened the door. " Iz?" he asked his sister. Isabelle looked horrible. " What's the matter?"   
  


"Get in the car." she ordered.   
  


" Why, what's wrong? Is it Michael? Alex?" he asked.   
  


Isabelle just shook her head no and dragged him to the jeep. " I'm driving." she said.   
  


They were heading towards the mall. " Isabelle, you dragged me out here just to get a mall fix! I thought something was seriously wrong!" Max fumed.   
  


"Shut up Max!" Isabelle yelled. " You know, just because you and Liz broke up, doesn't mean you can act like such an asshole!" tears trickled down her cheek," You have no clue do you? Your not the only one hurt you know."   
  


"Will somebody please tell me what is going on?!" Max cried out.   
  


Isabelle pulled the car over with an angry jerk of the wheel. " You wanna Know what's going on Max? Liz is..."   
  


"Liz? What.. Is she okay?"   
  


"No, she's not."   
  


********** 

"Maria, I have to get my car, okay? It's still at Max'." Liz told Maria/   
  


"You sure you'll be okay? Going over there, I mean?"   
  


"I'll be fine, I'll meet you at the mall okay?"   
  


"Okay." Maria said skeptically.   
  


" I'll be fine." Liz confirmed.   
  


On the way to the Evans' Liz thought. _ I'll be fine, completely fine. Who needs Max Evans anyway. _She thought. But in the very depths of her soul, she thought _I do._ She got to Max' house and noticed that his jeep was gone. _Even better. _She thought again.She took out her keys and started up her car. On her way to the mall, she thought of everything that she and Max had been through. She wasn't thinking straight when she heard the truck in front of her tires scream. When she snapped out of it, it was to late, she didn't have enough time to slam on the brakes.   
  


********** 

" Michael, is Liz here? Did you see her?" Maria asked Michael worriedly.   
  


"No, wasn't she coming with you?" Michael asked.   
  


"She went to get her car at Max'." Maria explained. " It shouldn't have taken her this long."   
  


""We'll go look for her, maybe she decided to go home."   
  


" Alright, we'll take your car."   
  


They drove in silence for a while then Maria mumbled under her breath, " Common Liz, where are you?"   
  


" Look, there's an accident up there, she was probably just caught up in traffic." Michael tried to comfort Maria. They drove past the accident, slowly but surely, there still wasn't an ambulance there yet and the car was pretty bashed up.   
  


Maria's face went completely white when she saw the car, "Oh my God! That's Liz's car!!" Michael looked at the car and realized the same thing. He pulled over and ran out with Maria. " Liz! Liz, where are you?!" she screamed when she looked in the car. There was no one in the car and the door was open. Maria looked around while Michael used Maria's cell phone to call 911. When Maria turned to the other side of the car, she saw Liz's lifeless body lying on the ground. " Oh my God! Michael! Michael please!" she screamed through tears.   
  


" Maria?!" His face went white when he saw Liz.   
  


" Help her Michael!" maria screamed.   
  


" All right, I'll do all that I can." just as Michael was about to heal Liz, the ambulance came and shoved Michael out of the way.   
  


" Do you know her?" one of the paramedics asked.   
  


" Yes, she's our friend." Michael said as calmly as he could.   
  


" Follow us to the hospital." the paramedic told them.   
  


" I'll call Max and Iz on the way," Michael told Maria.   
  


" Call Alex." Maria sobbed.   
  


********** 

_I am such a jerk! What was I thinking?! _Max thought while he and Isabelle kept going to the mall.   
  


Just then Isabelle's phone rang. " Hello?" she answered. " Michael? Wait, slow down what happened?" her face went pale, "Oh God. Oh God! Where are you? Alright." she hung up and made a quick U-turn. She started to cry.   
  


"Iz, what is it?" Max said, very worried. This didn't look good.   
  


" Its Liz. She was in an accident." Isabelle sobbed.   
  


" What!!! No! Is she... what... is she?!"   
  


" They don't know. Michael and Maria just saw her lying on the road."   
  


" Oh God! Why didn't Michael heal her!"   
  


"He didn't have time, Max." she cried hard," It doesn't look good Max."   
  


" Get out! Now!" Max screamed.   
  


" But..."   
  


" Just get out! I'm going to drive." Max said.   
  


Isabelle did as she was told and got out. She then climbed into the passenger seat. Max took off at record speed. 

Max started to cry as he thought of Liz, lying on the road, maybe lonely, having no one there with her, without having Max there with her. They pulled into the hospital. Without saying a word, Max and Isabelle jumped out of the car.   
  


When they ran into the emergency room they saw Maria and Michael. Maria was sitting down, tears streaming down her blank face. Michael was sitting next to her laying his head in his hands. Max and Isabelle walked over to them. When Maria saw them, she looked into max's face and screamed, " This all your fault! If she dies, it is all your fault! I hate you! I **HATE** you!!" she cried. Max's expression went completely pale.   
  


"Max, she doesn't mean it, she's just upset." Michael reassured him.   
  


"She's right. It is my fault. My God, it's all my fault."   
  


" No, Max, it's not your fault." Isabelle tried to tell him.   
  


" No, it is. And you all know it. You don't have to hide it. It is all my fault."   
  


Just then, Alex walked in. Isabelle ran over to him and cried on his shoulder.   
  


" What happened?" Alex asked, I just got a call to go to the hospital."   
  


When Michael realized that he was the only one who wasn't totally out of it, he answered," Liz was in an accident." he explained, " I'm not sure how it happened but me and Maria went looking for her, we were supposed to meet her at the mall and when she didn't show up Maria got worried and we went looking for her. There was an accident on the highway and we realized it was Liz's car," Maria suppressed a sob, "we looked for her and, well..."   
  


" Wow, I... I didn't... God." Alex said.   
  


The room was silent for a little while, except for the few sobs.   
  


" Are you here with Liz Parker?" a nurse asked the group.   
  


" Yes, is she okay?" Maria sobbed.   
  


" Follow me please." the nurse told the group.   
  


" Wait, you didn't answer my question." Maria argued.   
  


" I'm not authorized to say anything. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait to talk to the doctor. Now if you'd please follow me, I'll take you to see the doctor." The group followed the nurse. Max hung around the back. He feared the worse.   
  


********** 

_This is my fault. All My fault. _Images of Liz lying lifelessly on the road kept going through Max's head. There was a bad feeling in the room and he didn't want to know why. Suddenly, a horrible picture ran through his mind, over and, and over. Liz, pale but beautiful, lying lifeless, not like her usual full-of-energy personality in a casket, being buried 6 feet under the cold earth. _That can't happen, I won't let it happen._ Max thought.   
  


" You're all here with Liz Parker if I'm not mistaken?" a deep voice said behind the group. They all turned around to see the doctor come from behind them.   
  


" Yes, is she okay?" Alex asked.   
  


" I'm afraid ms. Parker is in a coma." The doctor explained sympathetically.   
  


" Oh my God!" Maria cried.   
  


" Can we see her?" Alex asked.   
  


" Yes, you can. Follow me please." he headed out the door.   
  


They reached a room and the doctor opened the door. Liz was lying in a bed hooked up to all sorts of machines. _This isn't supposed to happen. _ Max thought.   
  


" I'm sorry, but you can only go in two at a time. At least until we move her to a bigger room." the doctor explained.   
  


" I'll go in first," Maria called. Michael followed silently.   
  


********** 

" Thank you Michael, for coming with me." Maria said softly, her voice hoarse from crying so much.   
  


" I'd do anything for you Maria. You know that. Besides, I'm worried about Liz, she's like family to me. All of you are." Michael looked into Maria's eyes and saw her love for him. " Let me try something," he turned to talk to Liz, "I'm not as good as Max is, but, I'll see what I can do." Michael sat in the chair next to Liz's bed and made a connection with her. He tried to see where whatever it was inside of her that caused Liz to go into a coma, but saw nothing. He got out of the connection, " I'm sorry, I couldn't find anything." Maria's face grew somber.   
  


" It's okay, you tried. You've already done so much for her already," tears slid down her cheeks.   
  


Michael got up and moved to the back of the room so Maria could talk to Liz. " Liz, can you hear me? Who cares, just get better okay? Promise? You better." she stood up and walked out the door.   
  


********** 

" Liz? You probably can't even hear me but you have got to get better. Not for me, not for Alex, Maria or Michael but for Max. He thinks this is all his fault. He does care for you. More then you'll ever know." Isabelle thought about how Max had reacted when she told him what happened. She was a little jealous though, _what if this had happened to me. Would anyone act that way for me? Alex maybe, but does Alex love me enough to..._ _I am being selfish. _" I'm sorry Liz, I am so sorry." she whispered.   
  


Alex walked up behind Isabelle and put his hands on her shoulders. She felt safe with him. _Of course he would, Alex would probably be like Max. _ " Alex?"   
  


"Hmm?" he sniffed. He was crying.   
  


" Do you want me to leave?"   
  


" No, it's okay. Hey there girl friend. You'll be okay right? You have to be. You and Maria are my best friends. If you weren't here Liz, it just, wouldn't be the same." he got up and walked toward the door, Isabelle tagged along behind him.   
  


********** 

" I'm not quite sure how well the girl in room 123 is going to go through the night, we'll watch her, but if anything happens, we might not be able to do anything." Max heard the doctors mumble to each other. He looked up to Liz's room number: 123. Luckily, Maria and Michael were waiting in the waiting room, and, Isabelle and Alex were in Liz's room. They didn't have to hear that. 

Liz's room door opened, Alex and Isabelle came out. Alex motioned for him to go in, not making contact. _They all blame me. I blame me, they'll hate me. God! I hate me!_ He walked into Liz's room. " Liz, oh God, this is all my fault." he started crying," If I hadn't told you that we couldn't be together, none of this would have happened. We could have been together. We are meant to be together. We're soul mates Liz." he put his hands together and put his forehead on them, " I love you Liz. I have and always will love you. No matter what happens. I'd die if you... if you left me Liz. I can't live without you. I need you so bad. I hate myself for doing this to you." He lifted his head, tears soaked his face, " I heard the doctors talking... you've got to prove them wrong. If I could heal you, I would. I'd even get caught doing it to you if it would save you, but Michael's already tried. I could try again though," he made a connection and like Michael, saw nothing. " Liz, I am so, sorry. I can't tell you this enough, I love you. So much."   
  


Just then, she started to shake uncontrollably, her monitor started to beep rapidly, she started to gasps for air. "Liz?! Liz!" _Oh my God! _Max got up and ran to the door, "Help! Please! Someone help!" Maria, Alex, Michael and Isabelle followed by a squad of doctors came running to Liz's room. 

********** 

" Michael, Max is so miserable. You can feel it can't you?" Isabelle asked. 

Of course he could feel it. The feeling was so strong, it hurt. He could only imagine how it felt, the real feeling, not the second degree feeling. Just then, the sadness turned to fear. Both Michael and Isabelle looked at each other, they quickly got up, the others got up as well, then they all heard the cries for help. They took off, Maria running faster then any of them, Alex quick at her heals, then Michael and Isabelle. The doctors came after. 

" What happened?" one of the doctors asked Max as he ran in the room.   
  


" I was just talking to her and she started shaking, then the heart monitor started to beep and she started gasping for breath." Max explained as he started to cry fresh tears. Maria gasped and burst into harder sobs.   
  


_Poor Maria,_ Michael thought, _if something like this happened to Max or Isabelle, I don't know if I'd even be able to handle it as well as Maria. Well, she's not handling it, but I'd be worse. _Then, he thought about Max. He had never seen Max cry before. It seemed to be like he had an ocean of tears he had to let out. Michael didn't know how he'd react if it was Maria in there and not Liz. Then, he thought about Alex, he was being really quiet. There were no usual wise cracks or jokes, he was just, quiet. Michael wondered what he was thinking. Maybe he was hurt. He had been the last to know what had happened between Liz and Max. And now, one of his best friends was in a coma. Maybe even dying. He thought about Isabelle, Liz and Maria were her only actual girl friends. It was good for a girl to tell secrets to other girls, not just her brother and his best friend. Finally, he thought about himself. Michael had always been a little skeptical about humans, but when max had healed Liz from a gun shot wound, Liz had actually been the one to bring them all together. She had been the one to make him trust humans. 

Liz was sort of the heart of the group.   
  


********** 

_Why is this happening? Why to Liz? Why was I the last to know about all of this? Why do I seem to be the one stuffed into a little box that everyone takes out when they feel like it? Why? _Alex thought of all the questions and yet, got no answers. He did however, feel left out. The group seemed to be made out of Max, Liz, Maria, Michael, Isabelle and that other kid who always just hung around and no one could remember his name. It was true though, he had been the last to find out that Max, Michael and Isabelle were aliens, the last to learn about Max and Liz's third break up was it? The last to hear that Liz was in a coma, maybe forever. He became angry. He was one of Liz's best friends and someone just happened to remember to call him! What if Liz died? Would he be the only one to care? Would the rest of them just go on to their little problems in life? Would Isabelle care if he decided not to hang out with them anymore? Would anyone? Maybe, maybe not.   
  


********** 

_She's been in there so long. Why is it taking so long? Will someone tell me why this is taking so long?! Ok Maria, you're being paranoid. Everything will be fine._ Maria thought_. Maybe I should apologize to Max, I was really hard on him._ " Um, Max?"   
  


" Yeah?" he wiped his eyes.   
  


" I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry..."   
  


" No, you were right it was my fault, you don't have to be sorry."   
  


" Max, I was really hard on you, I know. I was just upset. But it really wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyones fault. It's just one of those things that just, happens. It could happen to anyone." Maria explained. Max's eyes glazed over with tears.   
  


" But it happened to Liz." he said softly.   
  


********** 

" Isabelle, snap out of it. Everything is going to work out fine." Isabelle told herself_. _She looked over at Max. It hurt to even look at him. Max never cried. Never.   
  


" Maybe Alex will help cheer me up." she told herself again. She looked over at Alex. He was sitting by himself, looking out the window. He had been really quiet all evening. He wasn't being himself at all. " Alex? You okay?" she asked quietly.   
  


" No, I'm not okay." Alex said tiredly.   
  


" Do you want to talk about it?"   
  


" Not really." he told her.   
  


Isabelle looked at Alex. He didn't look at her. Isabelle turned his head to face her and kissed him. Alex pulled away quickly.   
  


" Just give me some space Isabelle. Please." Alex said turning his head back to face the window.   
  


Isabelle had never been turned away before. She didn't understand.   
  


**********   
  


_Common Liz. You can get through this. I know you can. You have to._ Max kept thinking over and over.   
  


The doctors finallycame into the waiting room. He walked over to Max, Maria, Alex, Michael and Isabelle. " Liz Parkers' friends?" he asked.   
  


" Yes." Max said quickly.   
  


" We took her out of the intensive care unit." Maria sighed with relief. " She has calmed down, however, we want to keep an eye on her. To be quite honest, I suggest you not be to hopeful._"_ he explained.   
  


" So what?! You're say is that we should give up on her! Start planning a funeral! Live life like she was never even part of it?!" Michael screamed at the doctor, extremely outraged.   
  


" No, that isn't what I meant..." the doctor began.   
  


" Really?! Because that's what it sounded like. Maybe you should be more careful with your analysis doc." Michael fumed.__   
  


" I'll leave you alone. You can all see her if you want. She's in room 12 second floor." he told them a little flabbergasted from Michael's out burst.   
  


He turned around to leave.   
  


" Well, what are we waiting for?" Maria asked impatiently.   
  


" Nothing." Isabelle said. They all walked toward the elevator and got in.   
  


When they were in, Alex fidgeted a little then, spoke up," Maybe we should make a connection. You know, like we did with Michael when he got sick. To... to say goodbye." everyone looked at him, " just in case." he cleared up. Everyone nodded yes in silent agreement.   
  


********** 

When the group got into Liz's room, they all quietly formed a circle and thought about nothing other then Liz. Soon, they were in. But, where were they? In Liz's mind they saw a completely white box. No windows, no doors, no skies. Just white. In the middle of the room, there was Liz. Lying there, sleeping sort of. Peaceful. Suddenly, her eyes flickered open. She got up slowly and went straight to Maria.   
  


" Liz, what did you do?" Maria cried.   
  


" I'm fine Maria. Really. I'll be fine." Liz replied.   
  


Liz moved on to Isabelle. Isabelle looked at her, tears in her eyes. Then grabbed her and hugged her hard. There were no words.   
  


Isabelle finally let go and Liz moved on to Michael. Michael gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek and Liz did the same. " Take care Liz." he mumbled.   
  


" You too Michael." She said as she moved on to Alex. Alex looked at her. He looked at her like he was afraid he would never see her again.   
  


" Liz, I'm so scared." he cried.   
  


" Everything will be fine Alex. Everything will work out." she told Alex as she hugged him.   
  


Finally, she slowly moved to Max. " Liz I..." Max began.   
  


Liz put her finger on his lips before he could say anything, " Shh. Don't say anything." she whispered. " Goodbyes aren't forever Max." she said with a knowing smile.   
  


Max looked at Liz lovingly. Tears welled in his eyes. He leaned down and gave her a passionate kiss. She trembled at his touch.Then, they were out.   
  


" She knows what's going to happen." Max whispered.   
  


********** 

_It's been a month already, and there has been no change. _Max thought miserably. _Maybe the doctor was right. Maybe I should just give up. _He looked at Liz again. _ No. I can't do that. I can't give up. I love her too much._ Ever since the accident, Max had been at the hospital as much as possible. He was there as soon as school was out and even slept at the hospital most nights, hoping that something would happen. Anything. Max grabbed a blanket out of the closet and waited patiently. Before he knew it, he was asleep.   
  


_**********_

A blinding light flooded Liz's white room. _What? What's going on?_ She thought to herself. " Hmm. Mmm." she groaned and her eyes flickered open. She saw Max sleeping in a chair beside her bed. " Where am I?" she said groggily. She tried to sit up and realized that there were a whole bunch of tubes hooked up to her. Then, she remembered. She remembered the accident. The brakes screeching the glass breaking... then, she remembered seeing Maria, Isabelle, Michael, Alex and... Max. She looked at Max again. He looked so peaceful. She pulled out one of the tubes in her arm. Just then, the heart monitor made a flat beep. The way it did on those doctor shows when someone died. Max's eyes jerked open.   
  


" God, no!" he yelled.   
  


" Max, it's alright. I'm fine." Liz said.   
  


" Liz? Oh my god! I was so scared, I thought..." he wiped the tears away from his eyes. " I thought you were going to die." he said.   
  


" Max," Liz said lovingly. She got up and hugged Max. He was shaking with tears, " it's alright, I'll never leave you. I could never do that to you." She kissed away his tears.   
  


Then, the doctors came running in. " What's going on in here?" Liz's doctor asked Max. Then he saw Liz, sitting up. He looked amazed, " Well, welcome back ms. Parker." he said, still amazed. One of the nurses hooked her back onto the heart monitor. " I'll come back to check on you later." he said as he left the room.   
  


" What was that all about?" Liz asked.   
  


" They didn't think you were going to make it." Max told her, sniffing a little.   
  


" Well, obviously, they don't know me." Liz told Max.   
  


Max seemed a little uncomfortable, " Liz, when you were... sleeping I said some stuff that I really did mean and I'm not sure if you..." Max began.   
  


" I heard. And Max, I'm sorry."   
  


" Liz, you don't have to be sorry, it wasn't your fault. It was mine." he said.   
  


" No, it wasn't your fault at all! I was the one who broke up with you. I got distracted and wasn't paying attention." Liz told him.   
  


" Well, no matter who's fault it was, your okay and that is all that matters." he kissed her.   
  


" It's like I told you, goodbyes aren't forever." she kissed him back.   
  


********** 

" I am so glad you're okay." Maria told her best friend the next day.   
  


" I am so glad that your glad that I'm okay." Liz giggled.   
  


" Now that's the Liz we like to see." Michael smiled as he walked in.   
  


" Hi Michael!" Liz got up and gave him a hug.   
  


" Hey, Liz, just because your better doesn't mean that you can steal my man!" Maria pouted.   
  


" Don't worry babe," Michael said as he walked over to Maria and gave her a kiss, " besides, Max would have my head if I went anywhere near Liz!" Maria, Liz and Michael all laughed.   
  


" Hey there girl friend!" Alex said as he walked into the room. He still wasn't back to his usual self, but, he was getting better. He gave Liz a high five and beamed from ear to ear.   
  


" Speaking of Max, where is he?" Maria asked.   
  


" He went home to get Isabelle and to take a shower." Liz explained.   
  


" So when do you get out of this dump?" Alex asked.   
  


" First thing tomorrow morning." Liz answered.   
  


" Great! We could have a welcome home party at the Crashdown! It'll be awesome!"Maria screeched with delight.   
  


" Sure, why not?" Liz replied.   
  


********** 

The Crashdown was completely lit up with candles and was decorated with streamers of all colors. _Perfect. It looks great! _Maria thought excitedly. This was the first party Maria had been to in like, almost forever.   
  


" Well, well, well." a gruff voice said from behind her.   
  


She didn't need to turn around, " Hey there stranger, what can I do for you?" Maria asked throatily.   
  


Michael wrapped his arms around Maria's waist and said, " I had a rain check on something the other day, would it happen to have come in yet?"   
  


" Oh, you mean this?" she turned around and gave him a passionate kiss.   
  


" Yeah, that's the one." He said as he leaned in for another kiss, but Maria pushed him away.   
  


" Ah, ah, ah." she said in a sexy sort of punishing way, " Only one per customer."   
  


" Can't I pay you back later?" Michael said hopefully.   
  


" Well, I guess I could let you take one this time. It's on the house." Maria teased.   
  


" Great," Michael said as he brushed his lips against hers.   
  


" Hello? Is anybody in here?" Alex asked as he walked into the restaurant.   
  


Maria and Michael quickly let go of each other, " Later." Maria mouthed. " Yeah! We're in the back!" she yelled.   
  


Alex walked into the back, his face dropped when he realized that Michael was there. " Am I interrupting anything?" he asked.   
  


" No, no, of course not. We were just, just..." Michael began.   
  


" We were just getting the food ready." Maria saved him.   
  


Alex smiled, " Sure you were." then he put a bag down on the counter. I'm going to pick up Isabelle, I was just, just... bringing in the ice cream cake." he said mocking Maria and Michael.   
  


" Go." Maria said half giggling. Alex seemed to be back to his old self.   
  


Alex turned and left. " Now, where were we?" Michael asked. Maria leaned forward, pressing her body against his, " Oh yeah, now I remember." he kissed her.   
  


********** 

Liz walked into the Crashdown and gasped. It was beautiful. There were all sorts of colored crape paper and candles around the whole restaurant. Tears welled in her eyes.   
  


" You okay?" Max asked her.   
  


" Yeah, I'm fine. It's just," she looked at Max, Maria, Alex, Michael, and Isabelle, " It's just that I missed you guys so much." she started to cry. Isabelle came over and gave her a hug.   
  


" You don't even know the begging of how much we missed you." Isabelle said.   
  


" That makes no sense." Liz laughed through her tears.   
  


" Who cares," she sniffed.   
  


" Enough of all this sad stuff," Maria said, wiping her eyes, " This is supposed to be a *fun* party!"   
  


" Yeah! So let's start partaying!" Alex hooted.   
  


The music started blaring and the room was filled with laughter. " This is amazing guys! How did you ever come up with all this." Liz asked through fits of giggles.   
  


Isabelle, Max, Alex, Maria and Michael all looked at each other, then in unison, they said " Paranormal Magazine."   
  


Liz laughed. " Did you guys have that planned or something, because that was too weird."   
  


Every body laughed with her and again, in unison, they said " No."   
  


********** 

" You know, this has got to be one of the best nights of my life." Liz said as she and Max sat on Liz's rooftop.   
  


" Not mine." Max replied.   
  


" And what was?" Liz asked.   
  


" The night you woke up." he said softly, " That was the night I realized that you were the one. The one I want to be with my whole life." he turned around and looked Liz straight in the eye, " Liz, I love you so much, and because I never want to lose you again I'm going to do something you might find completely irrational, but I mean it with all my heart." He turned around, got down on one knee and pulled something out of his pocket.   
  


" Max I..." Liz began.   
  


" Shh, just hear me out okay, Liz Parker, I know we're young, too young maybe but, will you..." he cleared his throat, obviously nervous, " will you marry me?" he asked in a rush. " You don't have to answer right away, just tell me that you'll think about it."   
  


" Max?"   
  


" Yes."   
  


"Would you please do me a favor?" Liz asked sweetly.   
  


" Okay." he answered skeptically.   
  


" Shut up." Liz leaned over and kissed him passionately. And at that very moment, every thing was right in the world, there were no wars, floods, or even aliens. And, in his mind, Max knew his answer. 

********** 

_To be continued_   
  



End file.
